Lewis Perdue Perfect Killer

Perfect Killer

Lewis Perdue

Forge, Sep 2005, $25.95, 368 pp.

ISBN: 0765301105

In Mississippi neurosurgeon Dr. Bradford Stone is stunned when an assassin kills Vanessa Thompson, the woman he has loved since they dated in high school. Unable to accept that her work as a former SEC chair or as an attorney would lead to a sniper killing her, and knowing what she said about a need to talk and also realizing someone wants him dead too, Brad flees.

While on the run, the former marine recon officer Brad applies his military skills to learn about a seven decade old top secret military experiment Project Valor that would turn people into super killing soldiers and that his beloved was a victim of one of these chemically altered troops. Shocked, he discovers that the military is using the drug Xantaeus to geometrically increase the effectiveness of the war fighters while reducing costs; Vanessa was murdered for what she knew. Brad also realizes he is on a hit list because he knows that the Pentagon is planning massive dosages of this combat chemical ignoring deadly psychopathic side effects and that one enhanced vet is running for the White House with a strong possibility of victory; that candidate wants Brad dead now.

PERFECT KILLER is a terrific thriller that feels as if the key ingredient, the military combat medicine experiments could happen. Adding to the feel of authenticity are a bibliography of real nonfiction books (supporting the overall premise) and four appendices that "substantiate" the medical experiments. Brad is a fabulous protagonist as he is on the run yet continues his efforts to learn the truth. Conspiratorial thriller fans will have a field day with Lewis Perdue's near perfect killer of a tale.

Harriet Klausner